The size of new homes is ballooning

Families across the country are demanding bigger and bigger homes, undaunted by the prospect of fillings rooms with furniture and generations of soon-to-be-born dust bunnies.

In 2013 the median floor area of new single-family homes sold in the U.S. rose 4% to hit almost 2,500 square feet, according to recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

That compares to the median 1,700-square-foot size of a single detached and manufactured home, as reported in the 2011 American Housing Survey.

The biggest new single-family homes of all were sold in the South, hitting a median of 2,534 square feet in 2013, up 1% from the prior year. Homes in the Northeast reached 2,456 square feet, up 3%. Homes in the Midwest measured 2,405 square feet, up 9% from 2012, and homes in the West hit 2,394 square feet, up 5%.

Of course, buyers are paying more for these cavernous homes. The median sales price of new single-family homes rose to $268,900 last year, up 10% from 2012. Builders also cranked up prices for area, with buyers paying a median of $86.58 per square foot in 2013, up 8% from $80.42 in the prior year.

And the share of XXL homes is on the rise. Last year 9% of new single-family homes sold in the U.S. were at least 4,000 square feet, up from 8% in 2012 and 5% a decade earlier. Meanwhile, the share of homes under 1,800 square feet fell to 17% in 2013, down from 22% in 2012 and 33% a decade earlier.

Bigger and pricier home sales reflect the lopsided U.S. housing market in which well-heeled customers are able to get loans or pay cash, opting for deluxe amenities, while other families struggle to meet banks’ stringent lending criteria.

This divergence is also seen in the market for existing homes, which constitute the majority of total U.S. home sales. April’s sales of existing homes that cost at least $1 million grew more than 5% from a year earlier, while sales of homes under $250,000 fell more than 5%, according to the National Association of Realtors.